Red Canyon

Red Canyon

Starring Christine Lakin, Tim Draxl, Justin Hartley, Norman Reedus

Directed by Giovanni Rodriguez

The Story:
Years after brother and sister Devon (Tim Draxl) and Regina (Christine Lakin) were kidnapped and tortured, they return to the small town to sell their recently deceased mother's house, along with their friends Terra (Katie Maguire), Tom (Justin Hartley), and Samir (Ankur Bhatt).  While Devon seems to have moved on, Regina is still haunted by memories of the event, and hopes to find some sort of closure.

After arriving, they run afoul of local bad boy Mac (Norman Reedus) and his gang, who seemingly have something to do with the torture the family endured years earlier.  Under attack, Devon, Regina, and their friends find themselves in the fight for their lives, even as the past unfolds shocking events.

The Synopsis:
"Red Canyon" was released in 2008, but watching it now is really strange due to the fact that it stars two of television's biggest actors right now - Justin Hartley of "This is Us," and Mr. Daryl Dixon himself, Norman Reedus from "The Walking Dead."  You wonder how two superior actors would find themselves drawn to this low-budget wannabe slasher film, and think maybe they did it as a favor to the first-time director.  Or the money.  Or maybe both wanted a shoddy horror movie on their resume.  In any event, that serves as the biggest mystery of all, as the actual mystery in the movie is incredibly lame and nonsensical.

Years after enduring torture at the hands of a gang in their hometown, siblings Regina and Devon return to sell their mother's house, and bring their friends with them.  They run into Mac, the local bad guy, and soon things escalate to the point of having their lives put in danger.  Yet, despite this continual fear of death, we as an audience don't give a care in the world about what happens to these thinly drawn and highly annoying characters.

Tim Draxl plays Devon as the leader of the group and the protector of Regina, but spends most of the film reacting to things happening to him.  Christine Lakin plays Regina, a girl who really needs to be committed to an insane asylum as she relives the traumatic events of her past, and acts like a whiny, crying little girl the entire time.  Their friends are your typical stereotypes - Terra is Devon's girlfriend but she's so headstrong she often fights with him.  Samir is the quiet friend with a crush on Regina.  Tom - played by Hartley - is the most vocal of the group, and also the most annoying.  As they get picked off, we actually feel relieved we don't have to experience their performances anymore.

Norman Reedus proves that he was born to play the redneck hero on "The Walking Dead" here as Mac, even though he's the main bad guy.  His performance is eerily parallel to that of Dixon, so much so I'm kind of convinced he sent the producers of "The Walking Dead" this film as his audition.

The story muddies around at a lackluster pace, and for a film that's as short as it is, felt like it was a lot longer.  We just want to get to the brutal deaths, and they are quite brutal (except done in a highly comical way, such as a man's intestines getting wrapped around everywhere), but not even that can satisfy our desire to actually sit through this piece of dreck.

There's several moments of laugh-out-loud hilarity, such as when one of our "heroes" - so to speak - accidentally shoots one of their friends in the leg.  Even though the friend is in writhing pain, he still has time to calmly make fun of everyone else.  Then when someone finds a phone to call the police, another person accidentally trips over the cord, severing it.  Finally, as they're escaping, one goes back to get a necklace and of course gives off their position.  These people are not ones you want on your side when you're running from a gang of hillbilly killers.

Then the last part of the film tries to flip the script and provide a twist-inducing shocker that would leave even the great M. Night shaking his head in dissatisfaction.  It doesn't make sense, and makes so many events in the film seem pointless and completely unnecessary - then again, that's what this whole film was: unnecessary.

The Summary:
Despite having strong casting choices like Norman Reedus, "Red Canyon" is bogged down with a nonsensical story, lackluster performances, unlikable characters, and laughable effects - basically the makings of every monotonous b-rated horror movie.

The Score: D+